Conventional portable generator sets, or gensets, to provide temporary electrical power at remote locations, construction sites, emergency response sites or other locations requiring such power are well known. Such conventional portable generators might by small person-portable devices or they may be larger skid or trailer mounted devices, depending on the site requirements and location, and the amount of power that is needed for a particular use. Often these conventional portable generators are mounted within a removable shroud or cover, so that the shroud blocks and/or helps attenuate sound emanating from the engine or other equipment within the genset.
Often, gensets are configured to be towable, with one or more axles and a tongue extension for attaching to a hitch mounted on a towing vehicle. However, the overall length of the genset and tongue may be too long for efficient transportation on other vehicles, such as transportation on a flat bed trailer, or on other road vehicles. The overall length of the genset and tongue preferably should not be shortened to much to ensure proper tracking of the trailer. Improvements to trailer mounted gensets are desirable to balance the length needed for efficient towing and maneuverability when towed, while permitting a greater density of gensets to be carried on other vehicles.
Gensets, like almost all devices with an internal combustion engine, require periodic maintenance to continue operating a peak efficiency and/or capacity. The generators may also require periodic maintenance for optimal operation. Some of these maintenance functions may be carried out in the field and others may be scheduled for a time when the genset has been returned to a maintenance facility.
Housings for conventional gensets may inhibit access to the engine and the generator of these gensets, making both field maintenance and more comprehensive maintenance more difficult and time consuming. Conventional gensets may also include housing which are made of a plurality of individual elements that must be joined together. Reducing the number of elements comprising the housing may provide cost advantages in the manufacture of housing for gensets and be simpler and faster to assemble and maintain.
Improvements to housings for portable gensets are desirable.
Portable gensets may be adaptable to be switchable between different voltages and/or phases of output. However, while ease of switching between phases and voltages is desirable, switching under load can damage equipment connected to the genset, and also may damage the generator. It is often desirable to only connect or disconnect equipment from the genset when the genset is not under load or when power delivery to the output lugs has been interrupted.
Improvements to limit the access to and the safety of phase switching and power output lugs are desirable.
In gensets, often wiring and controls may be spread about the interior of the housing into apparently convenient locations, such as having the engine operation and management control components directly adjacent the engine. However, having a dispersed arrangement of wiring and other components may be less than advantageous for assembly during manufacture and maintenance. Improvements to the location and arrangement of components and wiring within gensets are desirable.
Engines from a variety of different manufacturers may be used to power different gensets of the same rated capacity or may be used in the same model genset. While these different engines may have the same or similar horsepower ratings and be similarly configured in terms of fuel used, the layout of theses engines and how they interface with the generator and other equipment of the genset may be slightly different. It can be costly and inefficient to the manufacture of gensets to have a variety of different mounting arrangements for the generators and other equipment of the genset to adapt the genset to the configuration of each unique engine layout.
Improvements to the mounting of engines to gensets to minimize the changes that must be made to the genset to accommodate different engines are desirable.